1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bagger for a mower, and more particularly a bagger which receives a flow of cut grass and air and after separation of the grass from the air recirculates the air from the bag to discharge the return air ahead of the mower.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, various devices have been advanced that show rear baggers or grass catchers for mowers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,257 discloses a plastic bag insert for a lawnmower catcher that has a plate with an inlet opening and a vent opening to allow air to vent in the opposite direction from the inlet, and thus out of the bag. The material is merely discharged at a location other than under the mower or ahead of the mower. Several different configurations of the patent are shown with the parts held together with Velcro hook and loop fasteners in certain instances.
A grass collection cart is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,990, and has a flexible bag that receives grass clippings, and an air outlet, which also discharges through the rear of the bag. This is used for lawn tractors where the operator rides on the tractor, and illustrates a common form of bagger.
A disposable lawn bag, such as a plastic bag is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,806, and there are supports for mounting the bag onto a power lawnmower. The support hangs on the handle of the mower, and a return filter or permeable bag is used as a secondary bag that will fill with debris after the main bag and forms an air outlet for returning the air that carries the grass into the bag to the atmosphere. Leaving the return filter bag off would let the air discharge forwardly from the main bag but this unit does not return the air flow to the front of the mower.
A disposable grass catcher is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,546, which uses a bag that has perforations in it so that the air will vent out of the bag as the bag fills with grass clippings. U.S. Pat. No. 4,059,398 shows a bagger attachment for a riding mower with an internal screen and an air duct that provides a return of air.
A combined lawnmower, lawn vacuum and debris collector is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,708,968. This device has a return circuit for the air that discharges the air back into the mower housing, in the center of the mower, through a return chute. The return chute has a booster fan for propelling materials in the return circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,909 shows a mower that has a closed loop flow path where grass clippings are impelled into a fully enclosed, one piece grass catcher (in this case, it is a rigid grass catcher) and the air from the grass catcher is returned to an opening at the forward side of the catcher that lets the air discharge through the housing of the mower at the front. This device discharges into the mower housing but in a location where the material, if there is any substantial debris, is in the center portions of the blade which are not traveling very fast, and under conditions where the material is likely to play because of restrictions in the flow. An additional opening is required in the mower housing, and plugging or clogging can quite easily take place.
Other U.S. Patents which illustrate typical baggers include:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,006,128; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,065,588; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,199,277; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,968; and PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,198.
The patents in the list above show the general state of the art in debris collection for lawnmowers.